Your small business most likely has a website, but does it have the all-important website legal policies? Whether you’re selling handmade crafts, offering professional services, or running a local café, chances are you have a website. Or you’re planning to build one soon. But one critical element that often gets overlooked is legal policies.
What Are Website Legal Policies?
Legal policies are written notices posted on your website that outline how your business collects, uses, and protects visitor data, along with other important rules and responsibilities. For small business owners, especially those just starting out, these can feel like “big company” concerns. But ignoring them is a mistake. A potentially a costly one. The most common website legal policies include:
- Privacy Policy: Explains how you collect, use, and protect personal data.
- Terms of Service (Terms and Conditions): Outlines rules for using your site or services.
- Disclaimer: Limits your liability and clarifies information provided on the site.
- Cookie Policy: Informs visitors about cookie use, particularly for tracking and analytics.
- Accessibility Policy: Explains what steps have been taken to ensure that people of all abilities can access your website. And provides a means for users to contact you if they are struggling with using your website.
Why Legal Policies Matter for Small Businesses
1. Website Legal Policies are the Law
Let’s start with the non-negotiable: many legal policies are legally required. If your website collects personal data, like names, emails, or even IP addresses, you likely need a privacy policy. That includes something as simple as a contact form, newsletter sign-up or analytics tools such as Google Analytics.
Different geographic areas have different laws:
- GDPR (EU & UK)
- CCPA/CPRA (California, USA)
- Other U.S. state laws (Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and many more)
Even if you just conduct business in your home country, consider that your website is accessible globally.
2. Website Legal Policies Build Trust
Clear policies show customers that you’re transparent and trustworthy. When visitors know you care about their privacy and security, they’re more likely to do business with you.
3. It Protects Your Business
A strong Terms of Service policy helps reduce legal risk by:
- Outlining refund or cancellation policies
- Explaining how visitor data is collected and shared
- Limiting your liability
- If a dispute arises, your policies may protect you
4. Third Parties Require It
Many tools and services (like Google Analytics or email platforms) require you to have legal policies in place. Failing to do so could get your accounts restricted or shut down.
5. The Landscape Is Always Changing
Privacy laws evolve quickly. Staying on top of these changes yourself is hard. And it’s difficult, if not impossible to do as a small business owner. Plus, your time is better spent on other things like servicing your existing customers and building your business.
Termageddon is a Smart Solution for Website Policies
Hiring a privacy attorney isn’t always practical. Using copy/paste templates is risky. That’s where Termageddon shines. It’s a tool that automatically generates and updates legal policies for your website based on your specific business and data collection practices.
Why We Recommend Termageddon:
- Provides almost all policies: Termageddon is a one-stop shop for your Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and Cookie Policy. (Here’s a free resource for accessibility policies in this blog post.)
- Automatic updates – Changes to privacy laws happen often. Termageddon keeps your policies compliant without having to have your policies re-written.
- Customized to your business – Step through the questions and Termageddon provides policies that are tailored to your website.
- It’s affordable – Lawyers can charge in the thousands for website policies. Termageddon costs about three cups of coffee house coffee a month.
While it’s not a replacement for legal counsel in complex situations, Termageddon is more than enough for most small businesses and solopreneurs.
Also read: Why Website Speed Is Important
Website Policies FAQs
“I only collect emails. Does my website need a privacy policy?”
Yes. Email addresses count as personal information under most laws.
“What if my website doesn’t sell anything?”
Even if you run a service business or your website is informational (like a blog), contact forms or cookies (like for analytics) still trigger the need for legal policies.
“Can I just use a website policies template?”
You may be tempted to use one of those free templates you find online. Trouble is that they have likely not been updated to reflect current and quickly changing laws. And using one of those copy/paste templates isn’t going to match the unique situation that is your business.
Getting Started with Termageddon
Website legal policies aren’t just an inconvenience. They are critical to running a compliant and trustworthy website. If you’re just starting out or want to make sure your bases are covered, we strongly recommend checking out Termageddon. It’s simple, affordable, and keeps your site aligned with current privacy laws. We can you with the setup and/or installation of Termageddon on your website.
